


Phichit To The Rescue

by Zetal (Rodinia)



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-14
Updated: 2017-11-11
Packaged: 2018-11-14 00:14:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 9,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11196429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rodinia/pseuds/Zetal
Summary: Phichit has either no faith in Yuuri or too much.  Yuuri's never going to talk to Viktor, not without intervention, and there is nothing Phichit does better than walk up to strangers and make them his friends.





	1. Chapter 1

Phichit would never admit this to anyone, but he was just a little intimidated. He’d had no trouble at all walking up to Lee Seung Gil and Otabek Altin to introduce himself, and in both cases, he’d walked away with new social media followers and their phone numbers. He’d heard stories of people who were scared to approach him, but he was very proud that anytime anyone said that to someone who knew him, they told them to just do it because Phichit was fun, he was easy to talk to, and he was never annoyed by people wanting to be his friend.

This wasn’t like Seung Gil or Otabek. Seung Gil was rude, Otabek was antisocial. Viktor Nikiforov was a rock star. He was probably used to people walking up to him to get autographs or selfies. Phichit… okay, he wanted a selfie too, but that wasn’t the point. He had an ulterior motive here.

Still, he was Phichit Chulanont. He had a rep of his own to maintain – that he could talk to anyone. He walked up and put on his brightest smile. “Hi! I’m Phichit Chulanont, and we’re going to be skating against each other.”

Viktor looked up from his phone. “Oh, hello! I was actually about to start looking for you. Selfie?”

“Sure!” They posed while each of them took selfies of the two of them. “Why were you going to look for me? For a selfie?”

“A selfie with the selfie master isn’t enough of a reason?”

Phichit shrugged. “You didn’t have to look for me for that. I wasn’t going to pass up the chance to get to tag v_nikiforov on my Instagram!”

“True. I’ve kept an eye on the competition, and I think you’re probably going to be on the podium with me today, and I don’t like meeting my competitors for the first time standing beside them on a podium.”

Phichit’s eyebrows shot up, because as far as he knew, that was Yuuri’s plan. Win a medal, then talk to Viktor while they were standing on a podium together. He really was doing his best friend a huge favor today. “Why not?”

“It just looks bad when I’m standing beside someone who’s a complete stranger to me. There’s also that I enjoy meeting other legends! You’re the first skater from Southeast Asia to make the Grand Prix, aren’t you?”

“…That’s right.” Viktor knowing that was a huge shock. “Hey, can I get your autograph? My roommate’s a huge fan of yours.”

“Sure!” Viktor pulled out a Sharpie while Phichit pulled out the poodle plushie he’d stolen from Yuuri before leaving for Skate Canada. “What’s his name, and how do you spell it?”

“Yuuri. Y-U-U…”

Viktor stopped writing and stared up at Phichit. “Katsuki Yuuri?”

“Um… yes? You know him?” This could be easier than he’d thought. Or harder, if Yuuri had somehow managed to offend Viktor, but it was Yuuri. There was no way.

“He did take silver at Skate America last week. He actually caught my eye at the NHK last year, I was watching Chris and Yuuri skated right before him in the free skate, and I couldn’t take my eyes off him. I wanted to meet him at Worlds last spring, but it always seemed like I just missed him. If I’d thought there was any reason at all for it, I might have thought he was doing it on purpose!” Viktor finished writing and signed his name twice – once in Latin letters, once in Cyrillic. “He’s got a silver already, and the competition in Japan shouldn’t be too bad, especially since he’s on home ice. I’m very much hoping to meet him in the Finals.”

Phichit took the dog and read the message. _To Yuuri – from an admirer – Viktor Nikiforov._ Wow. “I’m hoping I’ll make it too, but I don’t know. I’m in Rostelecom too, and with Chris, Michele, Emil, and you there… second and fourth are about the best I can hope for, and that may not be enough. If I’m there, or if I can convince Ciao Ciao to bring me along, I will tie him to a chair if that’s what it takes to keep him from disappearing before you can meet him.”

“He’s a fan, and there are only six of us. At Worlds, I can understand us just never running into each other, but at the Grand Prix Finals, we’ll have practices together, skating in the same group, at some point he’ll probably want a commemorative photo, won’t he?”

Phichit giggled. “See, Yuuri’s got this… thing. He’s convinced you won’t give him the time of day unless he can prove he’s on your level. I’ve tried to tell him otherwise, but he is incredibly stubborn. I’m hoping Vicchan will help…”

“Vicchan?”

“The poodle you just signed. It’s named for his dog back home in Japan, who…” Phichit started laughing harder. “He’s got a miniature brown poodle that looks just like your Makkachin only smaller, and is named Vicchan after you.”

Viktor’s eyes lit up. “Do you have pictures?”

“Yeah. Here, give me a minute…” Phichit went into his phone and found the Vicchan album. “Here.”

Viktor scrolled through the pictures, smile getting bigger with each one. “You’re right, he does look just like a tiny Makkachin. How cute!” He started messing with Phichit’s phone. Phichit was just starting to get a little nervous when Viktor handed the phone back. “I put my number and private email in there. Please feel free to pass them along to Yuuri.”

“Can I see your phone?”

Viktor raised an eyebrow. “If you want to verify the number, you can just call, you know.”

“I know. I’m about to set myself up for my best friend to kill me, though.” Viktor handed over the phone, and Phichit programmed both his own information and Yuuri’s into it. “There you go. Check timezones, he’s in Detroit, two hours ahead of us.”

Viktor checked the time. "Do you think he'd be available to talk now?"

"Yeah, probably, actually." And Phichit could see how well this was going to work. Win-win.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Viktor calls Yuuri. Yuuri thinks he's being pranked.

Detroit was boring without Phichit to liven it up. Yuuri was in the middle of doing some math homework when his phone rang. Yuuri frowned at the caller ID – it wasn’t a number he recognized. International… wasn’t that Russia’s code? He answered it – the worst that happened was his Russian wasn’t good enough to talk to them.

“Hello, Yuuri! Please don’t kill Phichit for giving me your number, I rather like him.” There was no way. That voice could not be who he thought it was. Phichit had to be playing some kind of really bizarre practical joke. “Yuuri?”

Oh. Right. He was supposed to say something here. He had no idea what, though, so he stalled for time to figure out what to say when your best friend pranks you by making you think your idol just called you. “Who is this?”

“Oh! Right! Your phone doesn’t know me yet. This is Viktor Nikiforov. I know it’s later in Detroit, is it too late?”

Well, at least he was committed to it. Phichit was there to supply the details, he was sure. Like that Yuuri was in Detroit, instead of in Japan like Viktor would probably expect. “Viktor Nikiforov? The skater?”

Viktor laughed, and it was a beautiful sound. “Nikiforov isn’t that common a name, but it wouldn’t surprise me if there were other Viktor Nikiforovs out there, Viktor’s certainly common enough. But, yes. The skater.”

Yuuri looked down at his math homework. Playing along with “Viktor” was definitely going to be more interesting. “Okay, so why is a four-time world champion calling me?”

“Phichit showed me pictures of your dog. I’m rather biased, I know, but Vicchan is adorable.”

“Vicchan…” Yuuri felt his face getting very hot. He was going to kill Phichit for telling Viktor Vicchan's real name. “He is cute. That was enough to make you call me?”

“Well, not on his own. That’s what pushed me from waiting until the Finals to meet you to giving Phichit my phone number to give you.”

“You wanted to meet me?” Why would Viktor want to give Yuuri his phone number? He guarded what little privacy he got, like private contact information, very carefully.

“I tried at Worlds. I love watching you skate, and I wanted to get to know the person behind the skating.”

"Viktor" had just made a huge mistake. The real Viktor would never care about Yuuri for the skating he'd seen so far. Which is why Yuuri had to make the Finals and do well. “Why watch me skate? I screw up my jumps so much. You can’t want to watch that.”

“That is a downside, but your spins and your dancing… Chris wanted to watch Japan’s Nationals last year because he was trying to hook up with a guy he met during the Grand Prix, and you were skating right before him. He woke me up to remind me I’d wanted to watch you if I could. I was going to kill him, but…”

“You had your own skate to be preparing for! Is that why your triple axel was off?” Yuuri was horrified. Sure, it wasn’t his fault directly, but the idea of having sabotaged Viktor was awful.

“Huh? I don’t think so, but I don’t remember. I can’t imagine it would be. More likely it was just me not paying attention. I’d have to watch that triple axel to remember what happened.”

“Or you could just ask Yuuri, he could tell you exactly what you did wrong,” Phichit’s muffled voice said. Yuuri nearly hung up out of embarrassment. “Triple axel is his most reliable jump, you know.”

“I know. It’s amazing!”

That time, Yuuri did hang up in embarrassment. His phone rang again – the same unknown number. He let the call go to voicemail. It rang again. Phichit.

**“KATSUKI YUURI I RAISED YOU BETTER THAN TO HANG UP ON VIKTOR NIKIFOROV WHEN YOU GET THE CHANCE TO TALK TO HIM!”**

Yuuri groaned. Phichit was really committed to this prank, but hadn't it gone on long enough? “Come on, Phichit, you’ve had your fun. Who am I really talking to?”

“Viktor Nikiforov.” Yuuri’s phone buzzed, and he opened the picture. Phichit and Viktor taking a selfie, with his stuffed Vicchan autographed by Viktor. So that’s where it went. Yuuri started planning a very complicated and grisly death for his best friend. “I can’t believe you’d think I’d prank you like that!”

“Well it’s Viktor, knowing who I am and wanting to talk to me, what was I supposed to think?”

“That Viktor loves your dog and your skating and wants to meet you at the Finals. Unless I can work some magic and convince Ciao Ciao to bring you to Russia with us.”

The scary thing: he probably could. Phichit was a magician when it came to persuading their coach to do things. “Phichit, no. I need that time to practice. If I make it to Finals…”

“You will and you know it. There’s no reason you can’t get silver in Japan.”

“There’s plenty of reason!” Most of which was that he was probably going to fall on the Salchow again, and probably at least one other jump, but there were some good skaters in the NHK too.

Phichit made a rude noise. “No, there isn’t.”

“Personally, I think you could get gold,” Viktor said cheerfully if somewhat muffled. “Seung Gil’s got a strong base score with the quad loop, but his presentation is crap. You can beat him!”

“I’m more worried about JJ LeRoy. Sorry, Phichit.”

Phichit laughed. “Don’t be. Viktor’s analysis isn’t wrong.”

“Who?” Viktor asked.

“The Canadian who beat me in Skate America?” Yuuri would have thought Viktor would know JJ. JJ had certainly talked enough about his goal of dethroning Viktor, surely some of that had gotten back to him.

“Oh. Him. You were close, and you had that fall on the quad Salchow. You can beat him in Japan, I’m sure of it!”

“I hope so.” And then he’d get to the finals, and Viktor would have completely forgotten him, but he’d still have a gold medal. And maybe he’d be able to talk to Viktor for real.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this took so long! Hopefully I'll be able to finish it this week.


	3. Chapter 3

As Phichit had known he would, Yuuri took gold at the NHK. He still fell on the quad Salchow, but all it took was a text reminding Yuuri that Viktor was going to be watching Yuuri dance to elevate his performance just enough to put him over JJ.

As soon as they were back, Phichit got Celestino off for a private conversation. “You need to take me to Sochi with you.”

“Okay, I’ll bite. Why is this so important?”

“Because you know as well as I do that when Yuuri goes into a full meltdown, I’m the only one who can snap him out of it and get him on the ice. And, if I’m not there to head it off, he will go into a full meltdown.”

“Because it’s the Grand Prix Finals? You don’t have much faith in him. He earned that spot.”

Phichit suppressed the sigh. Celestino was a great coach, but after all this time, he still had no idea how to handle Yuuri’s anxiety. “Celestino. Think about it for a minute. Who’s going to be there?”

He could see the moment it clicked for his coach. “Viktor Nikiforov. So you’re thinking Viktor’s going to ignore him and it’s going to send Yuuri into a meltdown?”

“Before I skated against him, yes, that’s exactly what I would have thought. Now it’s worse. Viktor is going to seek him out, and Yuuri is going to realize that the prank phone call he got last month wasn’t a prank, it was really Viktor, and Viktor is serious about loving to watch Yuuri skate and wanting to stand on the podium beside him. Yuuri will freeze, run away, realize what an ass he was to Viktor, and go into full meltdown. Quite possibly try to retire and move to some small African country where no one’s ever heard of figure skating.”

Celestino started snickering. “Well then. Can’t have that. Consider yourself invited.”

 

They’d barely made it to the hotel when Phichit proved to be psychic. “Yuuri!” They turned to see Viktor waving and running toward them. “I told you you could beat…” He looked to Phichit. “What’s that guy’s name?”

“JJ LeRoy? He’s here too, you know.” Phichit tried not to burst into laughter as he watched the look of shock bloom on Yuuri’s face. “Good to see you again, Viktor. I’m sure you and Celestino have seen each other around competitions, but your memory being what it is, probably best to introduce you.”

Viktor shook hands eagerly. “Celestino’s Yuuri’s coach, and yours. I wouldn’t forget such an important person!”

“And of course you recognize Yuuri, who you actually spoke to on the phone and I told you that wasn’t a prank, Yuuri, it was really Viktor, and don’t you dare go running away without at least saying hello.” Yuuri had been about to try, but Celestino clamped down on Yuuri’s shoulder and held him in place. Phichit rolled his eyes. “I promise that once he gets this through his head he’ll actually have some manners, Viktor.”

That, at least, got through to Yuuri. He meeped. “Sorry! Sorry. Um. Hi? I’m Yuuri, I’m a huge fan, I’ve looked up to you since I was twelve and does this mean that you’ve actually watched me skate?”

“Of course! I think I know why you’re having so much trouble landing the quad Salchow, if you don’t mind taking some advice from a competitor. I promise, it’s real advice, not sabotage!” Viktor winked.

“My coach is right here. He can probably tell me if you’re right.” Yuuri nodded. “What are you thinking?”

“Your takeoff is good and you’re fine in the air, but it looks like you lose focus right before you hit the ice for the landing. Coach Yakov always says that if you do that, you’ll fall every time. I don’t know where your mind is going right then, but if I had to guess, I’d guess that you’re anticipating falling because you always do?”

Celestino nodded. “It’s sound advice, Yuuri. You can do the jump in practice, but you’ve never done it in a competition. If it’s a confidence issue, that would explain it.”

“I kind of have a problem with having confidence in myself,” Yuuri admitted. “You’re probably right, I’m bracing for the fall before I land which guarantees I’m going to. I’ll try to remember that during the free skate.”

“Good!” Viktor smiled, an almost blinding heart-shaped grin, and Phichit had to wonder what the hell just happened. He’d expected Viktor to try to befriend Yuuri, maybe even hit on him, but help him with his skating? Viktor was even more gone than Phichit had thought. “Hey, want to see some new pictures of Makkachin?”

“I do, but we just got here and I need to check in…”

Celestino let go of Yuuri’s shoulder finally. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll handle that for you. Go talk poodles with your new friend. Don’t stay up too late. Phichit will have your room key when you’re ready to go to bed.”

“Thank you, Celestino.” Yuuri let Phichit and Celestino take his bags and walked off with Viktor, settling in right beside each other on a couch with their phones out.

Celestino shook his head. “Should I see if I can get you your own room? I know you said Viktor liked watching him skate, but that looks like a lot more than Viktor being a fan and fellow dog lover. I was not expecting that.”

“I’m pretty sure Viktor has his own room. Probably the best room in the hotel, at that. He’s got money and he’s not afraid to spend it.” Phichit grinned. “I thought maybe Viktor might be interested, but I was not expecting him to be on Yuuri before we even got checked in!”

 

Yuuri finally made it to their room around midnight. Phichit let him in, shoved him into a chair, and demanded, “Details. Now.”

Yuuri looked longingly at his bed. “Celestino will kill you if you keep me up too late.”

“No he won’t, he likes me too much. His life would be boring without me. But if you're worried, then you can stop protesting and start talking so that I can let you go to bed.”

“Yes, whatever would he do without having to bail you out of trouble at least once a weekend.” Yuuri stuck his tongue out at Phichit. “Makkachin is the second cutest dog to ever exist. Viktor disagrees and says Vicchan is, but we’ve agreed on the fact that they are the cutest dogs ever and we need to introduce them to each other.”

“Okay, I know you’re a dog lover, but you did not spend five hours talking about Makkachin and Vicchan.”

“I got to meet Yakov Feltsman, Yuri Plisetsky, and Mila Babicheva. Viktor says he’s going to come out to Hasetsu in April. I don’t know why he wants to see the Ice Castle or Yu-Topia, but he insists that he’s really interested. I hope he doesn’t get too bored…”

Wow. Once again, Phichit found himself reevaluating Viktor's interest. “Are you going?”

“Yeah, I should be finished with school by then, and I miss Vicchan and my family and Minako and the Nishigoris. Without school to keep me busy, there’s no reason I can’t take some time off to go see them, and without tuition to pay, I ought to be able to afford it.”

“Then I’m pretty sure Viktor won’t get bored.” Phichit tried to hide the pang of fear when Yuuri mentioned being done with school. Yuuri and Celestino had a great deal of respect for each other, but in five years, Celestino hadn't managed to get a handle on Yuuri's anxiety. What if Yuuri decided to leave, to find a new coach in another city? Like, for example, St. Petersburg?

“And then he wants to come see Detroit, and he wants me to come visit St. Petersburg. What did you do to him when you met him?”

“I asked him to sign Stuffed Vicchan. His interest in you had nothing to do with me.”

Yuuri blushed. “Don’t say it like that! You make it sound like… like he has a crush on me.”

"That's because he does. You may not see it, but Celestino and I do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one keeps growing on me!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PUPPY.

Yuuri was in third after the short program, behind Viktor and Chris. Viktor had asked Yuuri to go to dinner with him, but Yuuri declined. Phichit would have yelled at him if it weren’t for the fact that Yuuri was in their room struggling to breathe. “I can’t do this, Phichit! I can’t disappoint Viktor and fall on the salchow and miss the podium! It would be so much easier if Viktor didn’t know I existed yet, not until I was on the podium.”

“You know, when we met, Viktor said he hated meeting competitors like that. He thinks it looks bad when he meets them for the first time standing beside them on a podium.”

Yuuri looked up at him. “Really?”

“Would I lie?” Phichit very gently shook Yuuri’s shoulders. “Even if you do fall on the salchow, I don’t think you’ll disappoint Viktor. He doesn’t watch you skate for your jumps.”

“Of course not, no one would unless they enjoyed schadenfreude.”

“Or they wanted to learn how to do a triple axel. I did tell you that’s how I learned it, didn’t I?” Yuuri’s face said that he had not in fact ever told Yuuri about that. “When I started with Celestino, I could not do a triple axel. Part of it was I didn’t have the leg strength, I couldn’t get the power, but part of it was that I didn’t really have anyone in Thailand to watch. Then I get here, and there’s you, doing perfect triple axels…”

“Stop. Please.”

“Only if you say you believe me.”

“I believe you.”

“Good.”

 

During the free day, Viktor once again invited Yuuri to hang out with him, this time including Phichit and Chris. Yuuri tried to talk himself out of going, but Phichit was not having it. “You are going. Viktor wants to spend time with you. Deal with it, because you are not depriving me of a chance to hang out with Christophe Giacometti, and I don’t think I’m still invited if you don’t show.”

Yuuri grumbled about emotional blackmail, but it worked. Christophe looked delighted to see them, and he slung an arm around Phichit. “Viktor tells me I have you to thank for this?”

Phichit grinned. “Is that a sarcastic ‘thanks for messing up my shot with…’ either of them, really, or a ‘thanks for not letting Yuuri cockblock himself and Viktor both’?”

Yuuri turned himself into a tomato with a soft squeak. “Phichit!”

Chris just laughed heartily. “It’s an earnest ‘thank you for not making me listen to one more second of Viktor whining about how the universe is so cruel as to keep him from Yuuri for so long.’”

Phichit giggled as Yuuri’s mortification just got worse. Viktor was completely unashamed of himself. “Well, it _was_ cruel! But now, I’ve met Yuuri, and I’m going to meet his adorable dog, and I can forgive everything.”

Yuuri’s phone rang. “Mari? Hi, what’s… Mari, slow down. I can barely understand you.” Yuuri listened, and his eyes widened and he got very, very still. “Mari, no, don’t blame yourself. Vicchan always did have a problem with chasing cats. I’ll talk to Celestino and see if he’ll let me go to Hasetsu instead of back to Detroit after this. I can probably skip the exhibition skate…”

Phichit shook his head vehemently. Viktor furrowed his brow. “But you’ll be skating in it!” he protested.

Yuuri shook his head and turned away. “Tell Vicchan I love him and I’ll be there as soon as I can. Tell him he needs to make it through this so he can meet some new friends in April.” He hung up the phone, and his shoulders started shaking as the tears started to fall.

Viktor looked helplessly at Phichit, who rolled his eyes a little. This was something he’d have to teach Viktor, apparently. He put a hand on Yuuri’s shoulder, causing Yuuri to jump. “What happened to Vicchan?”

“A neighborhood cat came by Yu-Topia, and you know how Vicchan loves to chase cats. He chased the cat into the street and got hit by a car.”

“Oh no!” That snapped Viktor out of his confusion, and he wrapped Yuuri up in a hug. “He’s alive, and he knows you’re coming home to him. He’ll fight hard for his life.”

“I hope so. Mari said she’d call back when he’s out of surgery. I wish I could go now.” Yuuri wiped the tears from his eyes. “I’ll just have to bring him a medal. He won’t care, but it will make me feel less guilty.”

 

The three of them stayed with Yuuri, doing their best to distract him, until Mari called again three hours later. Yuuri listened without a word, thanked Mari, and then burst into tears again, this time leaning on Viktor’s shoulder. Viktor was still very awkward, but this time he wasn’t quite as helpless. He brought his arm up around Yuuri and held him tight.

Phichit was bracing himself for the worst, but Yuuri was smiling when he looked up. “Vicchan’s going to make it. It was very close, but they managed to save him. I’m still going home – Mari said that when she told him I was coming it seemed to perk him up a bit – but he’ll be there when I go.”

“I wish I could go with you,” Viktor said. “Yakov would never allow it, not with Nationals coming up so soon, but at least you’ll get to see Vicchan.”

“It’s okay. I’ll tell him all about you and Makkachin and how you’re coming out in April.”


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks to Viktor and Phichit’s support, Yuuri wasn’t as bad as he could have been when he took the ice. JJ, Bin, and Michele had all done reasonably well, but if Yuuri could just land the salchow, he had a good shot at keeping his medal. As he started the leadup, he reminded himself that Viktor had told him how to do it. If Viktor said he could do it, then he probably knew what he was talking about. He landed it for Vicchan.

Celestino gave him a giant hug when he came off the ice. “Yuuri, that was great! Viktor’s advice helped, didn’t it?”

“Yeah. It did.” Yuuri smiled and waited for the score. It popped up to put him in first - he was getting a medal.

As they walked out of the Kiss and Cry, Celestino had something he wanted to talk to Yuuri about. “If I make a suggestion, will you promise to listen to it seriously and not immediately dismiss it as impossible?”

When had he ever not listened to Celestino's suggestions? Aside from when Celestino was obviously messing with him, like suggesting that he should try to talk to Viktor at Worlds last year. He'd managed to stay out of Viktor's way, then. “Sure. Whatever you say.”

“I think you should ask Viktor to choreograph your programs for next season. It’s a little unusual, but somehow, I think Viktor would love the chance to surprise everyone.”

“What? Why would Viktor do that?” Viktor may, for some reason, like hanging out with him, and watching him skate, but help him?

“Because Viktor likes you. And you, who’s more likely to give you a program that can beat Viktor than Viktor? I talked to Yakov, and Yakov’s agreed that if Viktor wants to do it, he can.”

“Me? Beat Viktor? You think I can do that?” He'd always dreamed of it, just like every other skater of his generation. He believed he could do it - if he could just stop his tendency to melt down under pressure. He'd never admitted to it, though.

“I do think so. You're good enough, if you can land your jumps.”

“Why would Viktor want to help me beat him?”

“Like I said, Viktor likes you. I think he’d love to see you skating up to your potential, and if he can figure out how to unlock that I think he’d enjoy the challenge.”

“Why would Yakov agree to let him help me beat him?”

Celestino stopped walking, causing Yuuri to stop and turn to look at him. “He’s worried about Viktor. How long has it been since he’s lost anything? How long has he held the world records and watched no one even come close? Everyone expects him to be brilliant, everyone expects him to win, and Yakov’s not sure he has it in him to reinvent himself again next season just to go through the same old thing. Give him a challenge – give him a project – and maybe that will snap him out of things. Apparently Viktor’s said a couple things about the only thing keeping him on the ice is not having any idea what to do with himself if he leaves it.”

Yuuri covered his mouth. “Viktor can’t leave the ice!”

“So you’ll ask him?”

Yuuri nodded. The idea of Viktor leaving the ice was more than enough to push through any embarrassment at making such a ridiculous request. Chris and Viktor held their places, and the three of them stood together on the podium. Then there were pictures, and the press conference. There were some odd moments – Viktor interrupted a reporter to tell him off when he insinuated that Yuuri had only gotten into the Finals by luck. “Both of Yuuri’s competitions involved at least one other finalist, and America involved two. He may not have had to face me to get here, but the only one who did was Bin. Yuuri earned his place here just as much as Chris or any of the others, with his amazing skating.”

The reporter tried to stammer out an explanation, but another reporter jumped in before he could get out more than a couple words. “Does that mean you’re a fan, Viktor?”

Viktor's face lit up in a giant smile. “Very much so! I’m so glad to have had the opportunity to see him live. His skating is nothing like I’ve ever seen before, and I believe that if he can continue to improve like he did over this season, he’ll be the one to beat me.”

 

After the conference, Chris smirked at Viktor. “You know what’s going to happen now, don’t you?”

Viktor shook his head. “What?”

“There will be all kinds of rumors about you having decided that Yuuri is your next conquest. Which, given that you’ve made a point before of how you don’t mess around with competition…”

Viktor frowned. “That is going to happen, isn’t it. I don’t suppose there’s any chance any of them would believe that’s not what I want, is it?”

Yuuri flinched. He wasn’t going to admit to having fantasized about being one of Viktor’s conquests. It still hurt to hear Viktor say he wasn’t interested. “My coach wants me to ask you something, Viktor.”

“Oh? What’s Celestino thinking?”

“He wants me to ask you to choreograph my programs for next season. I know it sounds weird, helping a competitor, but…”

Viktor hugged Yuuri. “I’ll have to talk to Yakov, but if he says yes, I’d love to! Is there anything you’d like to do?”

“I don’t have any ideas. Celestino’s always chosen my music for me.”

“Why?”

Yuuri didn't have a good answer for that. “He just does. If someone comes to him with something they want to do he’ll usually say yes. Phichit’s planning on doing ‘Shall We Skate’ next season. I can’t wait to see it.”

“How fun! A Thai skater skating to that should be very memorable and exciting. You’ve never asked to skate to something?”

“Well…" Yuuri still wasn't sure it was worth mentioning, but the look on Viktor's face convinced him. "A friend of mine composed something for me once, but I didn’t have a lot of confidence in it and Celestino didn’t exactly support it. He’d have let me do it, but I could tell he thought I was better off with something else.”

“Do you think your friend might be willing to rework it? I know it sometimes takes me a couple rounds of back and forth with my composer before I’m happy with my music. And then sometimes it’s my composer that can’t make up his mind… he’s sent me three versions of the same song for my short program next year, and neither he nor I can decide which one’s best. This is perfect, I can use one for you and one for me and one for Yuri Plisetsky!”

“Yuri Plisetsky?”

“He’s my rinkmate. I’d forgotten, but I’m sure he’d have reminded me soon. I promised him that if he won without using quads in Juniors, then I’d choreograph a program for him for his senior debut. He’s moving up next year.”

“Oh. Nice.” Yuri was a monster. Yuuri was not looking forward to competing against him, even if he was only fourteen.

“Are you still skipping the exhibition skate, even though you medaled?”

“Yes. My flight leaves first thing in the morning. Celestino’s already told the officials and they’re going to ask JJ to skate in my place, since he finished fourth. Phichit’s coming with me, so I won’t be alone.”

“I wish I could go. Text me?”

“Of course. I’ll send you pictures. I still have to convince you that Vicchan is cuter!”

“That will never happen, but I would love to have pictures! What are you doing tonight?”

“Probably packing, I guess. I hadn’t really thought about it.”

“Come celebrate with me! You got a medal at the Grand Prix Finals. Next year, you’re going to win! That ought to be worth a few drinks, don’t you think?”

“O-okay." Yuuri thought it over. He could pack in the morning. He wasn't entirely convinced Viktor would still be interested in him now that they'd had the chance to hang out, so he'd better take advantage of it when he still had the chance. "Sure, why not? Am I supposed to invite Phichit?”

Viktor hesitated. “Sure, if you’d like. Chris, are you coming?”

Chris started to shake his head, but then he looked at Yuuri and changed his mind. “I have a silver medal to celebrate. I’ll be there.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be two chapters. WTF, me. :D
> 
> Sorry for the lack of Phichit, but he'll be back next chapter, I promise. <3


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Date night!

Phichit smacked Yuuri on the back of the head when Yuuri told him about Viktor’s invitation. “You are a moron. You are a complete and hopeless moron. I cannot believe you!” Phichit threw his hands up in the air. “Why are you like this? Why are you so oblivious?”

Yuuri rubbed his head. “What are you talking about? I thought you’d be happy that I was going out with you and Viktor and Chris instead of staying here and packing…”

“I’d be even happier if you’d realized that Viktor was asking _you_ to go out with him. Just you. This was supposed to be a date, you…” Phichit cut off and made a noise of frustration.

Yuuri shook his head rapidly. “If it was supposed to be a date, why did he invite Chris? Or say I should invite you? Besides, he said he wasn’t looking to make me his next conquest! How are we getting from ‘I’m not interested in Yuuri like that’ to ‘Hey go on a date with me!’?”

“He invited Chris because you decided you were going to bring me. You are a dumbass. Viktor’s not off the hook here, if he hadn’t invited Chris I have some freaking sense and could say I had a headache or other plans or whatever and you should go without me.” Phichit had his phone out. “Chris would back out, too, but he’s suggesting that if you two are this bad at this we should go to smack you when you do something dumb.”

“Or you could just… come hang out like normal people? Not smack anyone?”

Phichit dropped his phone back in his pocket and smacked Yuuri one more time just because. “I could, but where’s the fun in that?”

 

Viktor lit up when Yuuri walked in. The smile dimmed when he saw Phichit, but he covered well enough that Phichit was sure Yuuri hadn’t noticed. Chris was already there, and he came over to Phichit as Viktor hugged Yuuri. “Good to see you.”

“You too." Phichit glanced over at Viktor. He would swear Viktor's eyes were literally hearts as he looked at Yuuri. "Okay. I need an explanation. How on earth did Yuuri get the idea that Viktor’s not into him?”

Chris rolled his eyes with a sheepish smile. “A misunderstanding of what Viktor meant when he said Yuuri was not his next conquest, probably. I probably should have corrected him right away. I thought getting asked on a date cleared things up and Yuuri was just not into Viktor like that, but I take it I was wrong?”

Phichit laughed. “Yuuri’s into Viktor. I’ve had to deal with it for years. It’s why I sought Viktor out to begin with.”

“Well, I’m glad you did, he’s been a lot easier to deal with since that phone call.” Chris looked over to Viktor and Yuuri, smiling at how Viktor had an arm around Yuuri’s shoulder as they started walking. “Looks like we’re leaving and Viktor’s taking my advice.”

“What advice did you give him?”

“You may have noticed that Viktor is not very good at being subtle.”

Phichit had noticed. “He is on the ice, but off it? No. He's quite the dork.”

“I told him to forget being subtle and make it absolutely clear what he’s after. Tell me they don’t look like they’re on a date.”

 

When they got to the club, Viktor sat close to Yuuri with an arm around him. By the third round of drinks, Yuuri grabbed Viktor’s hand and dragged him out to the dance floor. After watching them for a while, Phichit leaned over to Chris. “I have an idea.”

“Uh-oh.” Chris leaned forward, answering Phichit’s smirk with one of his own. “I cannot wait to hear this.”

“Yuuri is going to kill me when he realizes I brought it, but I brought something I’d planned on smuggling into the banquet. Since we’re leaving early….”

“You’re leaving, too? Too bad.”

“I’m not competing, I’m just here for Yuuri – and Viktor. With Yuuri gone, Viktor doesn’t really need me, but Yuuri’s going to. Ciao Ciao and I are going to Japan with him. Yuuri does not know this yet, because he’s going to be embarrassed, so we agreed to leave telling him until it would be more inconvenient for us to change it than it was worth.”

“Good idea. I’m still going to miss you. What’s your toy?” Phichit whispered in Chris’s ear and Chris’s face was pure glee. “Hey, Viktor! Let’s go back to the hotel!”

Viktor looked over at Chris, one finger to his lips. “Why?”

“Because! Just trust me, get Yuuri and let’s go.”

 

It didn’t take long for Phichit to have the pole set up. He stripped down and took a few swings. “Yuuri?”

Yuuri stripped down as well. “Hold my beer.”

“You don’t have a beer,” Viktor said.

Yuuri chuckled. “It’s a meme. But I should have a beer.” Yuuri got on the pole, and Phichit got to watch Viktor and Chris’s jaws hit the floor as Yuuri started warming up. Phichit grabbed Viktor and dragged him to a bed once Yuuri started getting into it to make him sit down before he fell.

“You’re not bad, Yuuri,” Chris said. “When did you learn that?”

“Blame Phichit!”

Phichit started laughing. “Excuse me, which of us got smashed at a college party and signed both of us up for lessons on a dare from some frat boy who was trying to get into your pants?””

Yuuri slid to the ground and crossed his arms with a pout. “You’re the one who wouldn’t let me cancel until I’d actually tried it.”

“Oh, don’t act like you’re not grateful. Sure makes paying the rent a lot easier, doesn’t it?”

Viktor recovered a bit. “You do this for money?”

“Sure – although it takes three or four beers before Phichit can make me do it, so it’s not as lucrative as it could be.” Yuuri shrugged. “Got a problem with that?”

“Not at all! It’s just… you’re so shy, most of the time, I would never have imagined you performing something like this. I know which version you’re getting!” Viktor jumped up and grabbed Yuuri’s hands. “Come on, I’ll play it for you!”

Phichit blocked the door. “Not so fast, Nikiforov. Yuuri, I’ve got your back, you’ll be packed and ready to go, but take some clothes with you so you’re not walking back here in your underwear tomorrow morning.”

“Oh, yeah, good thinking.” Yuuri broke free of Viktor’s hold to grab the track suit Chris held out to him. Logical choice – easy to get on, easy to get off, comfortable for the flight.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morning after! Yaaaay consent is sexy!

Yuuri woke up slowly. His body felt weird. It took him a minute to place the odd bruises – pole dancing? Why would he have been pole dancing last night? He remembered agreeing to go out with Phichit and Viktor and Chris, on what Phichit insisted was supposed to have been a date with Viktor. But Viktor wasn’t…

The presence of another person in his bed cut through his fog. Too tall to be Phichit, there was no way he’d get in bed with Chris or some random person. It had to be Viktor. But Viktor had said he wasn’t interested in making Yuuri a conquest. Now he was confused. He opened his eyes to check if Viktor was awake. He was, and he was watching Yuuri sleep. It could have been creepy, but Yuuri figured that if someone was sleeping in your bed, you could probably assume that they knew you were there. “Viktor?”

“Good morning, Yuuri. What time is your flight?”

“Two…” Yuuri reached for his phone, but it wasn’t where he’d have thought it would be, beside his glasses. He also didn’t have pants on, so no pockets. He was, at least, still wearing his underwear. “What time is it?”

“Eight-thirty. You’ve got some time. Phichit’s taking care of packing for you.” Viktor reached up and brushed Yuuri’s hair back. “How are you?”

“Confused. Viktor? What am I doing here?”

Viktor’s face clouded over, the soft smile almost completely disappearing. “Do you not remember last night?”

“Bits and pieces.” Yuuri closed his eyes and tried to remember. “I remember leaving the bar. I remember Phichit getting out the pole. I’m going to kill him for bringing that, what in the world was he thinking? But that was in our room, and I don’t remember how I ended up here.”

“I brought you here to play you the music I’m going to use for your short program for next season. You weren’t too sure about it, but agreed that I probably know what I’m doing.” Viktor’s smile returned, and he winked. “Trust me. I know what I’m doing! You’re going to blow everyone’s mind with this.”

“Okay, but… how did I end up _here_? In your bed with you?”

“I asked you to stay and you said yes. As drunk as we were I wasn’t going to try to have sex with you, but I didn’t see the problem with you sharing my bed, since Phichit didn’t seem to be expecting you back. Was I wrong? Would you have said no if you were sober?”

“Would you have even asked if you were sober?”

“If I were sober and you were drunk, probably not. If you were sober too, yes, although I wouldn’t have stopped with just sharing the bed.”

“I thought you weren’t looking for a conquest.”

“I’m not. A conquest implies that I came, I conquered, and then I moved on. That’s not what I want with you. I don’t want to move on.”

“Was last night supposed to be like a date?”

“Not like a date. It was supposed to be a date.”

Yuuri groaned and buried his face in the pillow. “I’m an idiot and Phichit is never going to stop rubbing that one in. And now I’m leaving today and we’re not going to see each other until Worlds, so it’s going to be a long time before I can make it up to you.”

“You already have! If we’d gone on that date, I wouldn’t have seen you pole dancing, and I might have gotten your short program wrong!”

“No, but I might have stayed sober enough that you could have gotten laid…”

“Yuuri. As much as I would love to have sex with you, that’s not why I asked you on a date. It’s too soon to call it love, even I know that, but I care about you in a way I haven’t cared about someone in a very long time. I want to do this right. I’ll admit I was disappointed when I thought you weren’t interested in me as more than an idol and a friend, but after last night, I think we just had some miscommunication. Chris told me to forget any subtlety I might have, so… be my boyfriend, Yuuri?”

“You said it was eight-thirty?”

“Yes, why?”

“We’re both sober now, aren’t we? I think we have time before I have to leave for my flight…” Viktor still seemed confused, so Yuuri closed the distance between them with a kiss. “That’s a yes to the boyfriend, Viktor. And an offer to have sex now since we didn’t last night.”

 

Phichit was starting to get a little worried. Yuuri wasn’t the type to leave things until the last minute, but if he didn’t show up in the next ten minutes, Phichit was going to have to go looking for him. Yuuri was packed, as Phichit had promised, but he’d hoped to have time to get details of the night and the morning after before Celestino would be listening in. Not that Ciao Ciao would be at all surprised and he certainly wasn’t going to judge, but it would be less awkward for Yuuri.

Yuuri made it back with two minutes to spare. Phichit hugged him. “There you are! I was worried.”

“Sorry, I just… I didn’t want to leave Vitya.”

Phichit’s face lit up and he punched Yuuri’s shoulder. “Vitya, huh?”

Yuuri blushed. “Yeah, um, it’s a Russian…”

“But you are calling him by it! Things must have gone well!”

“Oh!” Now Yuuri’s blush was so hot Phichit could feel the heat from where he was standing. “Yes. Well. Things went very well. Things went so well that you are never going to stop being smug about how well things went.”

“That’s my boy!” Phichit hugged Yuuri. “Come on, Celestino’s gonna be here any minute, so… not a virgin anymore?”

“Who said I was before last night?”

Phichit raised an eyebrow. “You were horrible and awkward when I first got to Detroit, you’re still oblivious to people hitting on you, and I know you haven’t gotten laid while I’ve been in Detroit.”

“Fine. Yes. Not a virgin anymore. Very thoroughly deflowered.”

“Good.” Phichit headed for the door and opened it. Celestino was standing there, hand raised to knock. “Next question: do I have to kick Viktor’s ass for leading you on and making this a conquest after all, your ass for just assuming it was a one-night stand and leaving Viktor heartbroken, or nobody’s ass because you two talked to each other and realized this was so much more than either of those?”

“We’re boyfriends now, so nobody’s… oh no. Hi, Coach, um, Vitya agreed to your proposal… I mean, Viktor said he’d choreograph for me for next season. I can play the music he’s got in mind for the short program for you on the plane…”

Celestino took pity on Yuuri. “Boyfriends, huh? Congratulations. Be careful. If you need help with the media now that you’re dating Viktor Nikiforov, it’s a good thing you’ve got Phichit for a best friend, right?”


	8. Chapter 8

The media took a surprisingly long time to catch on to Viktor and Yuuri being boyfriends. At Europeans, a reporter asked him how it felt to win another gold medal. “It’s nice, of course. I just wish my boyfriend were here so we could celebrate together. I miss him!”

“Your boyfriend? You’re seeing someone?”

“Yes! I couldn’t imagine a better way to celebrate our medals at the Grand Prix Finals than straightening out the miscommunication we’d had and officially getting together!”

“So you’re dating a skater? It’s not Chris, you two have made it very clear that that won’t happen.”

“No, it’s Yuuri.”

“Katsuki Yuuri? The Japanese skater? He’s dating you?”

“Yes!” Viktor beamed. “If this is a dream, it’s the best dream I’ve ever had and I never want to wake up.”

 

Phichit was incredibly busy after that, keeping reporters away from Yuuri and Yuuri from collapsing from the pressure. Celestino still got Phichit and Yuuri a room together. “Just in case. Call me superstitious but if you and Viktor do have a fight, I want you to have somewhere to go that you’ll be comfortable.”

“Okay.”

It wasn’t needed, and with Viktor in the stands cheering for him, Yuuri did very well. He took gold, JJ silver, and Phichit snuck in for bronze, to Celestino’s great joy.

 

At Worlds, Phichit was surprised when, the night before the free skate, Yuuri showed up at “their” room. “What are you doing here?”

“Freaking out. I’m competing against Viktor tomorrow!”

“You did that at the Finals! What’s the problem now?”

“He wasn’t my boyfriend then! He wasn’t coming to meet my family and Vicchan! He wasn’t choreographing programs for me and talking about wanting to look up at me from the side of the podium next year!”

“Okay, are you scared that you’re going to beat him, or scared that you won’t? Viktor won’t be disappointed to get a gold medal, I promise, even he’s saying next year for that. I love you and he loves you and Ciao Ciao loves you, and none of us expect to see you on top of the podium this year. Viktor won’t take it easy on you because he’ll still have Chris and JJ and Michele to fight off and he won’t want to see any of them take his gold medal. You won’t take it easy on him because if you are not on that podium beside him…” Phichit hugged Yuuri. “You’ll be disappointed forever but everyone else will still love you.”

Yuuri hugged back. “You’re sure Viktor won’t be mad at me?”

“That sounds like something you need to ask Viktor, but yes, Yuuri, I’m sure. Viktor loves you. He won’t be mad at you. Chris says he’s never seen Viktor this happy.”

“You’re talking to Chris?”

“He’s so much fun! I love him. When have you ever known me not to make a friend when the opportunity comes up?”

“Just a friend?”

“Well. He is Chris. There’s been a lot of flirting!” Phichit winked. “Besides, I’m talking to Chris in case you and Viktor need us again.”

Viktor was not mad or disappointed as he stood beside Yuuri, gold around his neck and bronze around Yuuri’s, with Chris on the other side with the silver. Viktor was thrilled to death.

 

Phichit did not go to Japan with Yuuri when he went. He did call Mari and tell her to call him immediately if Yuuri needed him, which she promised.

Yuuri called the third night Viktor was there. “Mom and Dad called Viktor to a meeting that I was not welcome to attend. What if they’re telling him he’s not good enough for me?”

“Yuuri. If it were Mari, I’d be worried about that, but your parents are not going to tell someone you love that he’s not good enough for you – unless they’ve somehow uncovered something you never knew about Viktor, which I can’t believe.”

“But…”

“Yuuri. I have no idea what the meeting’s about, but I promise you, Viktor will not just let you go.”

Yuuri called back an hour later. “Mom and Dad interrogated him. They gave Viktor conditional blessing to marry me!”

“Wow! Already?”

“Yes, but… I have to win a gold medal with his programs.”

“Yuuri, that’s easy! You’ll have to really work at it to miss gold at Nationals.”

“But that’s too easy! Will it count?”

“Did they say it didn’t?”

“No…”

“Then there you go. You’ll also have two Grand Prix qualifiers, you can win gold at those! And you got gold at Four Continents last year, with Viktor’s programs you’ll be hard to beat. Relax.”

“But if I do win gold, he’ll ask me to marry him!”

“And… that would be a bad thing?”

“No, but…”

“Then don’t be an idiot! Win gold, get your man, let me give an embarrassing best man speech at your wedding. How are the dogs getting along?”

“They’re getting along great! There was a bit of sniffing and a bit of a growl when Makkachin got too interested in Vicchan’s supper bowl, but since then, they’ve been so cute. Lots of cuddling and chasing and they are best friends.”

“So what happens now?”

“Viktor’s coming back to Detroit with me. We’ve already talked to Celestino, he’s going to train with us for the next month while he choreographs my programs, then I’m going to Saint Petersburg for a month to train with Viktor and the Russians, and then I come home to Detroit and he stays in Saint Petersburg and we miss each other like crazy until competitions. Viktor’s going to come to my qualifiers even if we’re not assigned together. Yuri Plisetsky’s coming to Detroit with Viktor, and if you want, you can come to Russia with me.”

“Wow! Celestino’s signed off on two extra rinkmates for us for a month?”

“Yep. Since Viktor’s choreographing routines for me and Yuri, it’s not like we’re giving secrets to the competition.”

"Nice. My work here is done. Not even you can screw this up."


End file.
